I am seriously considering retiring Solo from agility. At the past two trials, he has been harassed by out-of-control dogs. Tonight we were at a lesson, and Solo was attacked by an aggressive dog that ran out of the ring.

Solo is now injured, severely limping on his right front leg. He had a shoulder injury in January of this year, and the 90 lb dog body-slammed his front end, re-injuring the leg. I feel bad for not protecting him....when I saw the dog coming, I dropped his leash, thinking they might just play (yeah right ). I was able to get the dog off him, and fend it off until it's owner came, but I wish I would've stopped the body-slam from happening in the first place.

I remember reading that some of you stopped doing agility because of the morons with out-of-control dogs, and I so feel the same way. Why do people feel that they should bring their dogs to an off-leash sport when the dog is aggressive with no recall? Ugh!

I just had to vent....I feel awful.

 Quote: tabatha farnel

Why do people feel that they should bring their dogs to an off-leash sport when the dog is aggressive with no recall? Ugh!

I just had to vent....I feel awful.

I can't answer for how these owner/"handlers" think, and they make me nuts, too. However, different training facilites have different policies about aggressive dogs; some are much better at enforcing the requirement to have a dog under control at all times and not allowing aggressive dogs. Perhaps you could look for a different place to train? (One of the places I train at uses crates, and the only dog not crated is the dog currently working.) Or, find a good trainer and take private lessons.

I am very sorry your dog was attacked and reinjured. This is why I always assume the worst about any dog heading in our direction and do everything I can to protect my dog from any uninvited approaches, period.

I hope your dog heals well and quickly.

leih

Ms. Farnel,

My limited experience with 'trials' and 'lesson' meetings leads me to wonder who's in charge of the places you are going to?

Dogs not engaged in an exercise are not allowed to run free, as far as I understand, at any organized trial.

At any 'lesson' activity, the dogs must also be under control - and I presume you are talking about an agility lesson.

I would still do agility work but I would look for more responsible people to do it with.

I would never drop the lead on any one one of my dogs under any circumstance when confronted by an advancing dog, even if I knew the dog, and knew the owner.

Venting is a good thing. But don't let people drive you from a pass time you and the dog enjoy.

I hope you left an impression with who ever was running the trial and the lesson session. They sure as the devil would have fully appreciated my vision of their management skills.

See... Venting is good.

Like everyone else who has their dog attacked, I've been replaying it in my head over and over. Believe me, next time I will not drop the lead, and will do my best to protect my dog. I'm not sure how much I could have done, because the dog weighs almost as much as I do, and had already nipped my arm earlier that night. We were walking the course (my dog was put away, she had her dog on lead walking with her) and the dog jumped up and nipped my arm from behind me. Yeah....this dog is obviously way too much for the woman to handle, and should not be participating in an off-leash activity.

The scary thing about this situation is that I know that the offending dog regularly trials. At the trials and lessons I go to, dogs are "supposed" to be under control. But, twice now, different dogs have run out of the ring, completely ignoring their owners "recalls", and ran a good distance to approach my dog. The first time was at a trial, luckily the dog was goofy and didn't attack, and the second time was last night, at the lesson where my dog was attacked.

I live in Southern Ontario, where agility is probably the most common in all of Canada. Unfortunately, agility is very easy to do. It gets difficult if you want to do well, but pretty much anybody can bring their dog to a few lessons, and make their way around a course. This results in a lot of clueless people bringing their poorly trained dogs to classes and trials. It gets really frustrating when trials and classes become just as bad as taking your dog for a walk around the block....you never know when the next dog is going to come charging at you.

I went to watch my first Schutzhund trial this past weekend, and was very impressed. Now, those are the types of dog people I want to be around. Dogs under control...no dogs on Flexis!

On a positive note, Solo woke up feeling much better this morning; he isn't limping at all anymore.

 Quote: Tabatha Farnel

.... the dog weighs almost as much as I do, and had already nipped my arm earlier that night. We were walking the course .... and the dog jumped up and nipped my arm from behind me.

This happened and the dog was allowed to stay?

 Quote: Tabatha Farnel

... The scary thing about this situation is that I know that the offending dog regularly trials.

Have you reported both incidents? This was not OK!

 Quote: connie sutherland

 Quote: tabatha farnel

.... the dog weighs almost as much as I do, and had already nipped my arm earlier that night. We were walking the course .... and the dog jumped up and nipped my arm from behind me.

This happened and the dog was allowed to stay?

I agree???? And from what I have read in the agility trial rules is that dogs are never allowed to "walk the course" with the owners. So the trial officials were allowing her to break the rules, in addition to allowing an obviously aggressive dog to trial. It (and the owner) should have been excused.

This worries me: I live in your general area, and I have a young dog that I hope to compete with in agility. The officials do not enforce the rules nor protect the members. This was AAC right? You should definitely report this incident.

I took my young dog to a trial in Michigan to get him used to the environment. I stayed out of people's way and didn't allow him to interfere with anyone. Unfortunately someone had a Lab she thought was "friendly" come up (on leash, luckily) and her dog and mine started posturing. Luckily some of the other spectators warned her to move on "now!" before anything happened - I was also brain-dead that day. Wierd how that happens....

Anyway I'm really sorry to hear about what happened and am glad you posted. From now on I will read the rule book and if I see anything fishy that is not being dealt with, I will call it to someone's attention and pull my dog. Better safe than sorry.

The incident last night where the dog nipped me and attacked my dog was at a lesson, not a trial. So, two people had their dogs with them while they walked the course. The owner of the facility saw both the nip and the attack occur, and didn't really say much about either. Her only suggestion was to make sure that my dog was crated when the aggressive dog was running (yeah, thanks, I figured that one out already). I have no idea why she continues to let this dog participate in lessons, or why she encourages the woman to trial this dog. It's only a matter of time before this dog attacks at a trial.

The problem is....this is a great place for me to train. I usually train on my own because the owner lets us pay a biannual fee to have access to her equipment whenever we want. I participate in her lessons occasionally, just to run my dog with distractions.

Angela....unfortunately, AAC trials are full of people breaking the rules. Every trial premium states that dogs are to remain on leash unless in the ring or at the practice jump. There are always people with loose dogs. I have seen a woman playing with her Papillion, loose, throwing a ball for it to retrieve, right near the ring entrance. People often walk their dogs to and from the ring off leash. At my last trial, a friend and I were sitting in our little crating area, when a toy all of a sudden landed on her car. Someone was playing fetch with their loose dog and was really bad at throwing.

My friend, who runs a Dobe, is often asked, "Can you move your dog away from the practice jump because my dog is eyeing yours." The practice jump is always near the ring entrance, and my friend's Dobe is always just waiting his turn to enter the ring, minding his own business. But people don't trust their dogs not to attack because they have no control over their dogs. My friend has had countless dogs on Flexis lunge at her Dobe at trials, but luckily he's a very non-reactive dog.

Really, if I were to complain about all of the rule-breaking, I'd be doing nothing else all day. And, I don't think it would do any good. This is just what agility trials have become, as agility becomes more popular, and trials are populated by way too many idiot dog owners. It's sad because agility really can be fun, but I'm not sure if it's worth it anymore.

This is a bummer to hear about....I am getting a new dog next month and was looking forward to starting agility with him. I don't have much patience with people acting foolishly. Dogs, okay, but people, no.

Guess I'll check it out and see how it goes.

Perhaps you'll have more luck with the agility people in your area. It all depends on your level of patience as well. My friend with the constantly harassed Dobe has no problems with it....she just takes it in stride. (However, in my opinion, she can be a somewhat irresponsible dog owner at times as well, so....)

On the other hand, I have no patience for people acting like idiots with their dogs in public places. On my way to work today, I lectured a woman with 2 loose dogs as I left my apartment building.

Plus, my dog used to be incredibly reactive with both people and dogs, and I have worked with him for years to get him to the point where he can participate in trials and act like a sane dog. So, I get a bit angry when idiots put no effort into putting a decent recall on their dogs, and let them run wild, or feel that their dog has the right to greet every dog in its path.

So sorry to hear about your dog's experience. I live in Hamilton and will be getting a new pup next year. I hope to eventually train in agility as well as obedience and field, etc.
Yes, Southern Ontario is a hotbed of agility and other doggie stuff. Lot of facilities, etc. That the owner of the place did not dismiss that dog from the rest of the lesson and tell off the dog's owner is terrible. While I can see that lessons have to have the dog off-leash, they should evaluate a dog's temperament before letting it in a group situation. Anything can happen while a dog is off leash, but they should at least assess the owner's control of the dog before proceeding.
I have been at a facility with my previous dog where one of the trainers actually cautioned everyone about her mal puppy being very dog reactive. She had the dog out while we were having our lesson, but had very good control. I still didn't like it, but what can you do?
Please PM me with the name of the facility you were at.
Have you ever taken any of the camps/classes with Susan Garrett at Say Yes? Fabulous! I'll be observing her 3 day puppy camp in November. I observed the 1st day of summer puppy camp and was blown away. You should take advantage of having a world class trainer so close. There are a lot of connected agility people that go there, perhaps you can get some ideas on where else to train.
The unfortunate thing about agility is that it's such a blast for both dog and owner that everyone wants to partake. Not everyone has a well trained and focused canine companion though and you always get a few people who really don't give a (pardon my French) sh*t about anyone else as long as they are having a good time.